Widespread flooding in Sudan has claimed the lives of at least 10 people as authorities warned of a looming humanitarian crisis.
Property has also been destroyed and thousands displaced, while the main road between the capital Khartoum and the key port of Sudan on the Red sea has been cut.
"Six states have been badly affected by the flood in West, North, East of the country and even in the capital Khartoum," state radio said on Friday.
The affected states are, Khartoum, Red Sea, Northern state, Sinnar and North and South Darfur.
The governmental statement did not give an exact number but said that thousands of houses, hundreds of shops and many governmental institutions had been destroyed.
Eye witnesses from Dordaib area in Red Sea state (500 kilometers from Khartoum) said that the main road which linked capital Khartoum with Port Sudan- the only gate for Sudanese exports and imports- has been cut by the flooding.
"We found six bodies and around 3,000 families were displaced from the area without any food or shelter," they told Africa Review by phone.
Meanwhile the North Darfur local government has called an emergency and urged immediate help from the central government and international aid organisations working in the region, after four people died.
The governor of North Darfur Mohammed Yousif Kibir told journalists in Fashir on Thursday that widespread areas in his state have been hit by the flood.
He added that more than 2,000 families had been displaced and traders lost 10 billion Sudanese pounds ($2 million) and warned of a humanitarian disaster threatening his state unless urgent aid was delivered.
The meteorological administration in a press release Friday said that the rate of rain in the past two days is the first of its kind in the country in the last 20 years, warning that the situation was very alarming.
The administration expects that more heavy rain will fall in coming days. The government has been urged to evacuate people living near the Nile River and other nearby valleys.
Friday 2 August 2013
http://www.africareview.com/News/At-least-10-killed-in-Sudan-floods/-/979180/1934912/-/lxc61gz/-/index.html
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